Quantitative Literacy

In a world drenched in data, we must ensure that students know the meaning of
numbers.

In a world drenched in data, we must ensure that
students know the meaning of numbers.

Our world is awash in numbers. Headlines report the latest
interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, hikes or drops in gasoline
prices, trends in student test scores, results of local and national
elections, risks of dying from colon cancer, this season's baseball
statistics, and numbers of refugees from the latest ethnic war.

Quantitative thinking abounds, not only in the news but also in the
workplace, in education, and in nearly every field of human endeavor.
Anyone who wishes can obtain data about the risks of medications,
per-student expenditures in local school districts, projections for the
federal budget surplus, and an almost endless array of other
concerns.

If put to good use, this unprecedented access to numerical
information will place more power in the hands of individuals and serve
as a stimulus to democratic discourse and civic decisionmaking. Without
understanding, however, access to this information can mystify rather
than enlighten the public. If individuals lack the ability to think
numerically, they cannot participate fully in civic life, thereby
bringing into question the very basis of government "of, by, and for
the people."

Considering the deluge of numbers and their importance in so many
aspects of life, one would think that schools would focus as much on
numeracy as on literacy, on equipping students to deal intelligently
with quantitative as well as verbal information.

Yet, despite years of study and life experience in an environment
immersed in quantitative data, many educated adults remain functionally
innumerate. Businesses lament the lack of technical and quantitative
skills among prospective employees, and virtually every college finds
that many of its students need remedial help in mathematics. Data from
the National Assessment of Educational Progress show that the average
mathematics performance of 17- year-old students is in the lower half
of the "basic" range and well below "proficient." Moreover, despite
slight growth in recent years, average scores of Hispanic students and
African-American students are near the bottom of the "basic" range.

If individuals lack the ability to think numerically,
they cannot participate fully in civic life.

Common responses to this well-known problem are either to demand
more years of high school mathematics or more rigorous standards for
graduation. But even individuals who have studied calculus often remain
largely ignorant of common abuses of data, and all too often find
themselves unable to comprehend (much less to articulate) the nuances
of quantitative inferences. As it turns out, it is not calculus but
numeracy that is the key to understanding our data-drenched
society.

The expectation that ordinary citizens be quantitatively literate is
primarily a phenomenon of the late 20th century. Its absence from the
schools is a symptom of rapid changes in the quantification of society.
As the printing press made literacy a societal imperative, the computer
has made numeracy an essential goal of education. Yet practice in our
nation's schools and colleges does not reflect that goal. We need,
therefore, to broaden our national conversation about education to
include careful attention to numeracy.

This conversation must be carried forward first and foremost in
school and college settings. If asked, faculty members and
administrators at most schools and colleges today probably would say
that they intend to produce quantitatively capable graduates. But the
typical response, a more intense focus on a traditional mathematics
curriculum, will not necessarily lead to increased competency with
quantitative data.

This conclusion follows from the simple recognition that numeracy is
not the same as mathematics, nor is it an alternative to mathematics.
Today's students need both mathematics and numeracy. Whereas
mathematics asks students to rise above context, quantitative literacy
is anchored in real data that reflect engagement with life's diverse
contexts and situations.

In life, numbers are everywhere, and the
responsibility for fostering quantitative literacy should be spread
broadly across the curriculum.

The case for numeracy in schools is not a call for more mathematics,
nor even for more applied (or applicable) mathematics. It is a call for
a different and more meaningful pedagogy across the entire curriculum.
In life, numbers are everywhere, and the responsibility for fostering
quantitative literacy should be spread broadly across the curriculum.
Quantitative thought must be regarded as much more than an affair of
the mathematics classroom alone.

Quantitatively literate citizens need to know more than formulas and
equations. They need to understand the meaning of numbers, to see the
benefits (and risks) of thinking quantitatively about commonplace
issues, and to approach complex problems with confidence in the value
of careful reasoning. Quantitative literacy empowers people by giving
them tools to think for themselves, to ask intelligent questions of
experts, and to confront authority confidently. These are the skills
required to thrive in the modern world.

Lynn Arthur Steen is a professor of mathematics at St. Olaf
College in Northfield, Minn., and led the team of scholars and
educators that produced the book Mathematics and Democracy: The Case
for Quantitative Literacy. The book was the work of the National
Council on Education and the Disciplines, an education reform
initiative centered at the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship
Foundation in Princeton, N.J.

Lynn Arthur Steen is a professor of mathematics at St. Olaf College in
Northfield, Minn., and led the team of scholars and educators that
produced the book Mathematics and Democracy: The Case for Quantitative
Literacy. The book was the work of the National Council on Education
and the Disciplines, an education reform initiative centered at the
Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation in Princeton, N.J.

Notice: We recently upgraded our comments. (Learn more here.) If you are logged in as a subscriber or registered user and already have a Display Name on edweek.org, you can post comments. If you do not already have a Display Name, please create one here.

Ground Rules for Posting
We encourage lively debate, but please be respectful of others. Profanity and personal attacks are prohibited. By commenting, you are agreeing to abide by our user agreement.
All comments are public.